take liberties
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Treat something freely.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Both painters take slight liberties with conventional perspective; that is to say, in their canvases the angles of vision are no longer completely consistent.
' I've also taken the liberty of informing your family, Paige.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “take liberties” mean?
Treat something freely.
Is “take liberties” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.